newtown residents and san diegans wanting to make a difference. >> san diego cares and san diego reminds me a lot of newtown, as far as the community and camaraderie that they show and it has been, you know, a blessing to live here with such wonderful people as well. and san diego is my home now, but newtown will be forever my home. >> reporter: already close to 300 t-shirts have sold meaning more than $5,000 for the cause. in san diego, christie woolski, fox 5 news. >> good for her. what a great cause. "cnn newsroom" continues right now with brooke baldwin. >> suzanne, thank you. good to see you'll of you here on this wednesday. i'm brooke baldwin. a bit of a surprise. moments ago on the white house briefing room today, the president speaking before reporters answering several questions about the fiscal cliff, and blasting republicans in the process. well, here is what we have learned since. speaker of the house john boehner, he will be responding. he'll be responding in just

minutes from now here. so we'll take that for you live. but let me begin with what the president began with, with this debate sweeping the nation right now. he wants ideas on changing nation the nation's gun laws. wants the ideas fast. he tapped number two to lead the interagency effort to come up with proposals. he gave vice president joe biden one month to do it. the president says this is not some wishy washy blue ribbon government study group. take a listen. >> this is not some washington commission. this is not something where folks are going to be studying the issue for six months and publishing a report that gets read and then pushed aside. this is a team that has a very specific task, to pull together real reforms, right now. >> president obama also emphasized no law can prevent every act of violence. and he wants, he says, the nation must also look at a

culture that glorifies guns, glorifies violence, and look at how we treat those who are mentally ill. want to go to the white house, to our correspondent there, brianna keilar, and, you know, to talk about the president's timetable here, 30 days, a month. you know washington, you've covered washington for years. is that even possible? >> reporter: it is still to be seen and you can't really overstate how difficult of an issue this is to tackle in washington and in congress, brooke. but the president laid out a timeline where he said vice president biden and this -- essentially a task force is going to be giving him specific policy recommendations no later than january and he said he wants congress to act in a timely fashion, next year. so meaning toward the beginning of the year, that's the extent of the timeline he laid out there. but i think what was also interesting was that he talked about appealing to the american people. and obviously this is something that he's been used to doing as he's been campaigning and tried to do this on the fiscal cliff as well. he made it very clear he will be

using the bully pulpit to try to persuade americans and to really sort of seize the moment of just how people have responded differently to the shooting. let me tell you, he had -- he has talked -- the white house talked and he laid out some things he would like to see in this event in the briefing room. he talked about the assault weapons ban, banning high capacity ammunition clips, closing the gun show loophole. and also you mentioned mental health, which i think is something that would be easier to push, kind of in a bipartisan fashion. the big question too is sort of what you talked about, dealing with the culture that glorifies violence. those were his words. how do you do that? that is still to be seen. >> reporter: >> what about the gun law? this is an affluent group of people. how would the white house bring the nra to the table in a very sort of high pressure timetable right now? >> reporter: this struck me because when the president was asked about this during questioning, he said that he has

faith basically in members of the nra. so making it clear that he's going to be trying to appeal to actual members as mothers and fathers, that he said when you look at the nra, there are a lot of people there who want to be sure that people go through background checks, they want to make sure that kids are safe. he thinks that there is sort of a place where nra members don't want to see military style weapons in the hands of people, a period or might do harm. that was sort of where he was looking and using the bully pulpit. friday, we'll be hearing from the nra for first time. they have been saying no comment. they have remained mum following the shooting in connecticut on friday. but this is just a really a sign now that things are very much heating up here, that we will be hearing from them on friday and that we heard from the president getting specific today, brooke. >> nra releasing a statement after our show yesterday. shocked, saddened by the news.

we'll await the news conference on friday. brianna keilar for me at the white house. thank you very much. now talking about the president here, his attention quickly turned during the briefing today to the fiscal cliff. which, keep in mind, is less than two weeks away. no deal yet, but in the past couple of days, it appears both sides are inching closer. all that said, president obama seemed frustrated today. watch this. >> at some point there has got to be i think a recognition on the part of my republican friends that, you know, take the deal. you know, they will be able to claim that they have worked with me over the last two years to reduce the deficit more than any other deficit reduction package. that we will have stabilized it for ten years. that is a significant

achievement for them. they should be proud of it. but they keep on finding ways to say no as opposed to finding ways to say yes. and i don't know how much of that just has to do with, you know, it is very hard for them to say yes to me. >> president obama essentially giving republicans their talking points. let me bring in chief congressional correspondent dana bash who has been waiting, minutes away here from the speaker of the house, john boehner. dana, there was a moment where the president threw out a number, a number that caught you by surprise. >> there was. when he was talking about, you know, where they could go or couldn't go, he mentioned, you know, why can't they go to something along the lines of 700,000, talking about the income level here. unclear if that was done on purpose, throw out a number to say, maybe this is a potential middle ground for us. but regardless, the whole -- the

sound bite you just played was kind of the crux of the message from the president. and why it is pulling john boehner out to his press conference. i'm on the phone because i'm standing right outside where he's going to do his press conference in a few minutes. but the point is that, you know, you won't take yes for an answer. that's what the president says. what we're likely to hear from the speaker, brooke, is you're not giving me enough to say yes to. the president gave what he clearly thinks was a very more than reasonable offer which from his perspective is pretty balanced when it comes to deficit reduction with about half from spending cuts and half from tax revenue. and the speaker is likely to say, again, here as he said before, he doesn't see the math that way. he thinks there is still way too much in terms of revenue and not enough when it comes to spending cuts. >> as we await speaker banoehne we talked to you yesterday about

the so-called plan b where speaker boehner threw out the number 1 million. that's the option for tax rates to go up for folks more than a million bucks. we know grover norquist endorsed the so-called plan b. it sounds like he's giving republicans a pass with that option. >> yes. so that's sort of the other -- the -- the other, i think the only movement that is going on here on capitol hill with regard to the fiscal cliff is republicans in the house, appearing for a vote tomorrow, for the plan b issue and one of the open questions is whether even the house republicans can get enough of their own caucus to vote for that, because there is some concern, and that they would still be voting for a tax increase even though the legislation would say taxes for everybody making a million dollars or less would stay the same. grover norquist was a big deal today. he released a statement saying that he did not believe anybody who voted that -- who voted for that would be violating his

famous pledge of no tax increases but a pretty powerful, pretty well stated anti-tax group has not said that. they're still pressuring conservatives to vote against it. the big picture, what this all means, republicans have told me they believe that the house republicans and the senate -- they have to get a vote on this very divisive issue of tax rates out of their system before everybody can sort of realize that they're not going to get anything done on that, that if nobody does anything, keep in mind if nothing is done, everybody's taxes will go up on january 1st and so maybe that would be through the last minute impetus for the president and the speaker to come together and given where they are, it really isn't that far apart. >> well, we will wait. you're on the phone. we wail wait. we' we'll come back to you. dana bash, stand by. we'll come back to you. i want to totally switch gears

here, because we need to talk about the state department in the news that has been made there the last 24 hours. three people including the security chief resigned from the u.s. state department today. this is all regarding that immediate fallout of the scathing review by the panel looking into the deadly september 11th attack in benghazi at the consulate there in libya. you know the story. the attack that killed ambassador christopher stevens and three other americans at the u.s. consulate. now, the state department blasted by this review for quote/unquote systemic failures. among them, i'm quoting grossly inadequate security and the dismissal of repeated requests to beef up personnel. senate majority whip dick durbin after reading this review. >> there was a breakdown in benghazi on september 11th that is stark and challenging to all of us in public life. i went through the litany of things that were given to us by the accountability review board.

our intelligence fell short. our security personnel were inexperienced and unprepared. our security systems failed. our host nation was lacking in protection for our own people. and senior state department officials unfortunately showed a lack of leadership and management ability. >> panel also found that there was, quote/unquote, a lack of transparency, responsiveness and leadership in libya and washington. in a letter to u.s. congressional committees, secretary of state hillary clinton said she accepts all 29 of the report's recommendations. i want to bring in our senior international correspondent, arwa damon, for us. arwa, you were there, you were there on the ground days after that attack in benghazi. my question to you is from what you know, is this report consistent with what you saw, with your own eyes? >> reporter: it most certainly is, brooke. in fact, following our first day of reporting on the ground,

which was three days after the attack took place, we had, in fact, reported that there was no protests that had occurred, that this was a highly complex attack that took place from various different sides, parts of the consulate compound. and that the gates were fairly easily breached. this was all information we were able to gather speaking with some of the local guards at the time, speaking with eyewitnesses, and then, of course, having full access to the site itself because even three days after the attack had taken place, the site was not secured. in fact, other journalists in the weeks afterwards were also able to access the site and even then there were still sensitive documents to be found. and so it most certainly seems that the u.s., first of all, grossly miscalculated the threat that existed against it, in benghazi, not to mention, of course, failed to put an adequate security measure given the type of threat that did exist. because what we knew leading up to the attack was that western

interests had been targeted on numerous other occasions, the consulate itself had been targeted as well. and as we do know now, repeated requests for additional security personnel were not fulfilled. and this, of course, had devastating consequences. >> on that point, on the inadequacies you point out and the lack of manpower, that's part of the review that they need to beef up the personnel. you've seen the consulates and different embassies in different parts of the world what kind of security would have made this consulate in benghazi safer? >> reporter: i mean, look, it is always been difficult for the state department because on the one hand they do not want to create these fortresses like the one they have in beirut where we are right now or baghdad, for example, that are completely and totally inaccessible and isolate american staff from the population with whom they're supposed to be connecting. that being said, what we have -- what took place in benghazi is

the complete and utter extreme of that spectrum. this facility could have been surrounded by blast walls. there could have been an outer perimeter that was even farther away that would have perhaps given staff on the inside more time to secure themselves. the compound as we were saying was fairly easily breached. they don't know exactly why it was that through the main gate the attackers were able to move so quickly, but that most certainly could have been beefed up. the outer perimeter of security was libyan guards who were armed with radios. that obviously was not adequate either. there are a number of things that could have happened beforehand. >> arwa damon, we appreciate you there for us live in beirut. again, we're awaiting back to washington, awaiting the speaker of the house john boehner to respond specifically to the president's comments when it comes to the fiscal cliff. 13 days to go. he's speaking in a moment. back after this. they see more than themselves. so we celebrate our year-end with the "share the love" event.

get a great deal on a new subaru and 250 dollars goes to your choice of five charities. by the end of this, our fifth year, our total can reach almost 25 million dollars. it's a nice reflection on us all. now through january 2nd. anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. because for every two pounds you lose through diet and exercise, alli can help you lose one more by blocking some of the fat you eat. let's fight fat with alli. ♪ let's bring up the live

picture. take it full so you can see. we are awaiting speaker of the house jane baohn boehner. many members of congress would like to avoid going over the fiscal cliff, though some have proposed we go over it. we're awaiting the speaker of the house because we're told he's going to be directly responding to what the president said in the daily briefing just a little while ago. the president, of course, was speaking about gun control and this interagency group that he's assigning the vice president to be in charge of. so that was part of the daily briefing. but, again, part of it was the fiscal cliff. here he is, john boehner. >> republicans continue to work toward avoiding the fiscal cliff. the president's offer of $1.3 trillion in revenues and $850 billion in spending reductions fails to meet the test that the president promised the american people a balanced approach. and i hope that president will get serious soon about providing and working with us on a

balanced approach. tomorrow the house will pass legislation to make permanent tax relief for nearly every american. 99.81% of the american people. then the president will have a decision to make. he can call on senate and democrats to pass that bill, or he can be responsible for the largest tax increase in american history. >> that was, forgive my surprise, that was short and sweet. john boehner basically saying what dana bash had predicted, that the speaker of the house would come out and say that the president's offer was not at all a balanced approach. let me look over at my notes. john boehner said he hopes the president gets serious soon. let me know, guys, in my ear if we have dana bash on the phone to react to this. we're going to get dana bash on the phone. basically they have been going back and forth, a lot -- the latest proposal endorsed by

grover norquist, they threw out this number of a million dollars here, so folks would be taxed a million dollars or up. okay, guys. i hear you. we have dana bash on the phone. you called it. speaker boehner said this is not a balanced approach and guess what, back to the drawing board? >> well, i think the drawing board could have been where it is for the past couple of days. as you heard, there were some frustrated reporters, myself included, very short statement and walked away and didn't want to take any questions. but, look, the bottom line is that what you just saw from the political standpoint, which mattered a lot right now, is him trying to shift the blame back to the president, who did a -- i think a pretty good job of using the bully pulpit as only the president can today of saying, look, guys, i offered what i think is a balanced approach and you won't take yes for an answer. so speaker felt compelled to come out and try to shift that blame back to the president.

the big question, brooke, is whether or not while all this to'ing and fro'ing is going on in public, whether any discussions can restart in private. my understanding is that there have not been any significant negotiations over the past 36 hours or so. they have certainly been in contact by e-mail and talking about staff at the white house and the speakers office, but not serious negotiations. and my impression is that probably won't happen until the speaker gets through the next move as he mentioned -- >> the vote tomorrow. >> the vote tomorrow. >> we also just learned that leader nancy pelosi will be speaking at the top of the hour. here we go, the president, john boehner, nancy pelosi. i don't know if that goes down as the shortest news conference in washington history. that may have been less than 60 seconds. we'll continue this conversation on the fiscal cliff a little later on in the hour. interesting, folks. more news developing right now, including this.

bracing for the blizzards. as folks get ready to head out for the holidays, current forecasts show travel nightmares. plus, the person of the year, president barack obama. but, not everyone's impressed with "time" magazine's choice. and should the government buy back guns to boost the economy? you'll hear the case. ♪

(announcer) when subaru owners look in the mirror, they see more than themselves. so we celebrate our year-end with the "share the love" event. get a great deal on a new subaru and 250 dollars goes to your choice of five charities. by the end of this, our fifth year, our total can reach almost 25 million dollars. it's a nice reflection on us all.

hurry in and try five succulent entrees, like our tender snow crab paired with savory garlic shrimp. just $12.99. come into red lobster and sea food differently. and introducing 7 lunch choices for just $7.99. conservative jurist robert bork died at his home in virginia. he was 85 years old. robert bork, some story, a quarter century later, wounds still haven't healed from bork's tumultuous brush with the u.s. senate which rejected bork for a seat on the united states supreme court. so here's how this whole thing started. only hours after bork's

nomination by president ronald reagan. watch. >> robert bork's america is a land in which women would be forced into back alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids and schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution. >> so, the gloves are off. from the get-go. democrats portrayed robert bork as this right wing zealot. republicans counter the democrats had liberal allies, they mounted this massive smear campaign. listen to this. this is how the weeks of debate concluded. >> the opponents of judge bork have to stick by their guns and stick together. there is safety in numbers. wolves know it and interest groups know it. and senators apparently know it. >> all of us who have sat there, not just members of the committee, but members of the senate, and let these ads go on and let this trashing going on and let this good man be

characterized as some sort of frankenstein's monster without raising a voice against it, all of us are accomplices. >> i heard this morning lynch mobs, i heard from another senator this morning, $15 million ad campaigns. where i come from, they call that making things up out of whole cloth. it is bizarre. it is ridiculous. look at the record. >> recognize that last face? familiar face. that's the vice president. that was vice president joe biden who was the chairman of the senate judiciary committee, played a stroll role in bork's rejection. jeffrey toobin joining me now. before we talk about robert bork himself, welcome, by the way. >> should we talk about how joe biden's hair looked in those days? >> i wish we could, but we won't. anywho, would you agree this whole bork saga, in '87, would you agree it still reverberates today? >> absolutely.

it reverberates at the supreme court to this day. the issues that bork was defeated, is there a right to privacy in the institution, is abortion a right that women enjoy under the constitution? those are the issues that are still at the heart of what the supreme court fights about. the supreme court is going to address the issue of same sex marriage come march. that was the kind of issue that bork spoke out on. this was a fight for the ages. and extremely significant because that seat that bork didn't get went to anthony kennedy, who has been no liberal, but has been a supporter of abortion rights. he has been a supporter of gay rights. and so the country is different because robert bork lost that seat and anthony kennedy got it. >> you mentioned that civil rights, women's rights, privacy rights, his nomination seemed to cut to the bone of how americans view these so differently. and i want you to listen again, here again is senator joe biden,

questioning bork about a case actually involving privacy in the bedroom. >> if they had evidence of a crime being committed -- >> how are they going to get evidence that a couple are using -- >> wiretap. >> wiretapping? >> wiretap. legal wiretap. >> you mean to say they're going to authorize a wiretap to find out if a couple is using contraceptives? >> they could, couldn't they? >> unbelievable. unbelievable. >> that dispute over bork was so intense, a lot of folks might think it had to do with bork's character. but for the most part, this was about the law, was it not? >> it was. and, you know, there is a verb that came into usage -- >> borked. >> getting borked. and it is interesting, that word has different meanings to different people. to conservatives, it means being tarred unfairly, being abused by the congressional hearing process. democrats, to this day, are very proud of those hearings because they say, bork was rejected because his views were too

extreme -- too extreme in their conservatism. so this is a subject that still gets a lot of people angry. all these years later. because the issues are still very much on the front burner and they are hot button issues in terms of privacy. that dispute he was having with joe biden was about a case called griswold versus connecticut which said that states could not ban married couples from buying birth control. and bork had been critical of that decision and biden was incredulous he could be critical of that decision. and those fights are still going on. >> it is incredible to think that because he did not get the position, it was justice kennedy and how much of that influenced who we have on the bench today and the decisions made in 2012. jeffrey toobin, thank you very much. >> good to talk to you. from coast to coast, complete strangers, they're finding a way to honor and remember the 26 sandy hook elementary school victims. we will show you the many, many

random acts of kindness next. [ female announcer ] what if the next big thing, isn't a thing at all? it's lots of things. all waking up. connecting to the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ it's going to be amazing. and exciting. and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away. we're going to wake the world up. and watch, with eyes wide, as it gets to work. cisco. tomorrow starts here.

cisco. progressive direct and other car insurance companies? yes. but you're progressive, and they're them. yes. but they're here. yes. are you...? there? yes. no. are you them? i'm me. but those rates are for... them. so them are here. yes! you want to run through it again? no, i'm good. you got it? yes. rates for us and them -- now that's progressive. call or click today.

bottom of the hour, you're watching "cnn newsroom." i'm brooke baldwin. more funerals today where all eyes are focused on these child-sized caskets. people paying tribute to three students killed in the shooting friday morning at sandy hook elementary school as well as that 27-year-old teacher, vicki soto. a police honor guard saluted the casket of the 27-year-old teacher who died shielding her students. her 6 and 7-year-olds, from the

gunfire. also caroline previdi, she was 6 years old. a facebook page dedicated to her has more than 5400 likes since her death. daniel barden, 7, he was the drummer in a band he formed with his brother and his sister. and 6-year-old charlotte bacon was described as a bundle of energy under bright red curls. as this town, this sweet sleepy new england town of newtown mourns, the kindness of total strangers has become as much a part of the story here as what happened last friday morning. people, perhaps you include in this, rallying behind this town, like the act that started this facebook page. it is called 100 cups of coffee. this is what one california man paid for, 100 cups of coffee at this newtown coffee spot. his act has generated so many people doing the same, folks across the country, paying for candy, paying for hot chocolate, all for the people in newtown. >> i wanted to do more than

donate a few dollars. my mom always taught us, when somebody's grieving, you send prayers and food. can't really afford to buy them all breakfast right now. i can buy them a cup of coffee. you heal. we'll do the rest of this stuff. it is just our way. it goes both ways. their tragedy can come to us, but, you know, with technology and media, we can go to them and help. >> and that is just one of the efforts people making teddy bears, sending care boxes, the generosity is going beyond newtown. on twitter, there are a bunch of hash tags, one of them iis is #20actsofkindness. simple gestures no matter their location. picked up neighbor's mail because she has a cold. it is the little things. inspired by all the acts of kindness coming out of newtown's loss, this next couple here will mack a bigger and deeper

impression on you. their daughter grace did not make it out of sandy hook elementary school on friday. and it is tough not to get emotional when you hear this story of this young girl, not just from grief here, but from the way chris and lynn mcdonell are moving forward, moving forward, not moving on, moving forward. they sat down with anderson cooper. >> what do you want people to know about grace? >> well, grace had such a great spirit. she was a kind and gentle soul. and she was just the light and love of our family. she was just truly a special, special little girl that we loved and she loved her brother so much. and she loved her school, sandy hook. in fact, this week i was telling somebody she had a stomach ache one day and i said to her, why don't you stay home with mom and she said, no way, i have too much fun there and i don't want to miss anything. she would skip to get on the bus. it wasn't even a, you know,

every morning it was the backpack was packed the night before and ready to get on the bus in the morning and head off to school. we would blow kisses every morning to each other and i remember that morning, putting her on the bus, she had a habit of blowing kisses, but then give me a big little liver lip, like, but then she -- i knew she was so happy to go off and get there. so it -- i'd like to say that she was at a place that she loved and so we take comfort in that. that we know she was in a place that she really loved. >> and with friends. >> and with friends. >> people that loved her. i think that's the whole community and the school and the teachers, they all -- they're all raising your child. and it is a special place. >> it is. and i take comfort that she was with all her friends and i just envision all of them holding hands and they're all together up there. and they're up there with their wonderful principal. i mean, they have so many people up there helping them, and i

said to somebody, like, just sandy hook, we have so many angels and so many bright stars shining over all of us in this town right now. and each one of those children was, you look at their pictures, they were so beautiful, and they all had a story and a talent. >> what did you say to jeff? how did you -- there is a lot of parents now who are trying to figure out what to say to their children all around the world for this. >> telling him was by far the toughest thing to do. i think what we did was truthful, honest words that he could understand. and hoping that he'll be able to process this and how we can help to guide him to process this over the long journey ahead. >> you met with president obama yesterday. what was that like? >> i know he's the leader of the country, but when he walked in that room, it was a very private meeting, but when he walked in

the room to greet us, it was just a dad. he's just a dad coming in to meet a dad and a mom and a son. and we really felt that. we felt his support. and it was really -- it was really special and we shared some special things about grace with him, and her art. >> inspired by grace's art, her parents say the family drew pictures, remembering grace, all over her little white casket and laid her to rest with the things she loved, like a new york yankees hat and sea shells. it's hard to see opportunity in today's challenging environment. unless you have the right perspective. bny mellon wealth management has the vision and experience to look beyond the obvious. we'll uncover opportunities, find hidden risk, and make success a reality.

bny mellon wealth management

instagram, the place to post pictures, right? now it is the website's fine print that users have been focusing on and many of them, perhaps including you, are outraged over this. instagram, they have responded. the company is backing away from this change in its policy, that said this, let me quote instagram.

the terms of use. to help us deliver interesting paid or sponsored content or promotions, you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your user name, likeness, photos, and/or actions you take in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions without any compensation to you. bottom line. without your permission instagram could get paid for a picture of you. then yesterday after a revolt and backlash, instagram said it was going to modify the terms, saying on a blog it was never its intent to sell your photos. let me talk about this with matt honen, senior writer at "wired." i loved your piece. and i know you signed up very early with instagram. we'll get to your back story in a moment. off the top, crystal clear, what happens today if i post a picture to instagram? could they use it or not? >> not yet. the terms go into effect on january 16th. so there is basically no reason to freak out until january 16th.

they have until then to modify those new terms that they just posted on monday. >> january 16th we will -- to be determined if people should be freaking out. correct? >> that's right. and it seems like instagram is probably going to back off on this. >> okay. as we await, if they do back off, you're an early adopter, you've done instagram after it started in 2010. love this line and what you wrote, you uploaded photos of food and beer and nights out on the town, banalities, burritos and bad photography through the valencia hues. if they're backing off, why don't you hop back on? >> i may do that. i actually said that in my piece. i wrote it before they released the blog post. they're going to be backing off. but to me it really bothered me they had set up these new terms, going to force people into using -- if you wanted to use instagram, to have your photos

used in ads or have your actions used in ads with no way to opt out other than to delete your account. i felt like that was an ultimatum, i felt if that's my only option, i'm going to delete because i don't want my stuff used in ads. >> do you believe this could have been a trial balloon from facebook who bought instagram, testing the waters to see how folks would feel about policies, perhaps? >> if it was, it was -- it went really badly, didn't it? it could have been a trial, but those terms were certainly vetted by a lot of lawyers. it seems like it was something that was -- it was, you know, one of facebook's big things, they move quickly and change things quickly if it goes badly. that's more what you're seeing. >> okay. matt honen, thank you very much. we'll wait to see what happens on the 16th of january. thank you, from "wired" magazine. to another magazine, big news out of "time" magazine. the person of the year of 2012 is president barack obama. again. but not everyone is thrilled with the magazine's choice.

my next guest from "time" responds live after this. humans -- sometimes life trips us up. and sometimes, we trip ourselves up, but that's okay. at liberty mutual insurance we can "untrip" you as you go through your life with personalized policies and discounts when you need them most. just call... and speak with a licensed representative about saving on your policy when you get married,

move into a new house... [crash!] or add a car to your policy. don't forget to ask about saving up to 10% when you combine your auto and home insurance with liberty mutual. security, coverage, and savings. all the things humans need to make our beautifully imperfect world a little less imperfect. call... and lock in your rate for 12 months. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

the big reveal from "time" magazine today, unveiled its person of the year. who is u.s. president barack obama. maybe just having the best year ever because he's also forbes' most powerful person of 2012. he won re-election. it is his second time as "time" magazine's person of the year. time gave him the title elected in 2008. of course, with the winner where a couple of runner ups. malala is number two on "time" magazine's list. she was that courageous pakistani teenager who survived a gunshot to her head for promoting the rights of girls to get an education. "time" calls malala a symbol for women's rights all over the world, despite an attempt by the taliban to silence her. number three, the successor to

apple's steve jobs. he is tim cook. they say cook has resided over apple in a masterly way since jobs past last year. let's talk more about this pick from "time." joining me from washington is michael shearer. welcome back. the president of the united states, once again, on the cover of your magazine for person of the year. why the president? >> in 2008 we gave him person of the year because of the historic election, the potential he had to change the country and the direction of the country. and this year we're giving it to him because of the change he's brought in the makeup of the electorate who comes to vote, and this new emerging electoral majority that he seems to be establishing, in the way we do campaigns, another historic year despite down enthusiasm, small dollar money from 2008, clearly changed the way grassroots campaigns are being done. and also for the way he is

shifting policy here in the united states. we're just two or three weeks -- two months now out from the election, i don't even know, actually. six weeks out from the election. >> we're all using track of time. it is the end of the year. it is happening soon. happening soon. >> and already this shift, you know, we're going to be raising taxes on the wealthiest northwesterns, inevitable it will happen. just two months ago, that wasn't the case. >> so you laid out myriad reasons. let me also lay out, this is rick stengel, at the magazine, said, as far as a reason for the pick, for finding and forging a new majority, for turning weak noose into opportunity and for seeking amid great adversity to create a more perfect union barack obama is time's 2012 person of the year. howard kurtz, you know, of course, writes about media, and is the host for cnn's "reliable sources." he writes, wow, little did we know he was super man. i know time has to justify its choice, but really? obama himself is more modest in

saying 2012 proves 2008 was not an anomaly. i'm sure you heard this today, michael, already. how do you respond to that criticism? >> i think rick was not calling him superman. i think rick was restating a little more poetically what i says in prose, not calling him superman. the anomaly part is at the core of what we're talking about here. there say real question coming out of 2008 about whether obama was sort of a flash in the pan, a one-time thing that came because of the economic collapse, because of the collapse of the bush administration, because of the desire of the country to have a first african-american president. would he establish in 2012 is that was not the case. those people are still there. demographically they're growing and will continue to grow. there are people who don't always vote in elections who don't vote for other people, who come out to vote when barack obama is on the ticket and that has created an electoral majority. that's a big deal. that's not saying he's superman or flawless or, you know, hasn't done things wrong or won't do

things wrong in the future. >> okay. here is my final question, just because i'm curious. when did "time" magazine decide? how long did you have to sit on this? 20 seconds. >> actual decision, maybe a few weeks ago, but there is qualifications to that. i started working on this story as if it would be the person of the year story maybe three or four weeks ago. there is always time as you said, you know, there are runners up, always time to move things around. when the actual final decision was made, that wasn't my decision. >> there is some wiggle room. there is wiggle room. >> there is. we start several stories all at once and we're pursuing all of them at the same time. so you can always juggle things around at the end. >> michael, thank you very much, from "time" magazine. 25 films were selected today to be enshrined in the national film registry from the library of congress. you know that. the movies are picked for preservation. so let's run down some of the notable films on the list here. first up, "dirty harry."

it has been listed as one of the greatest films of all time. then you have "breakfast at tiffany's," audrey hepburn won rave reviews for her role as a manhattan call girl in this one. and "the matrix" from 1999. this makes the list for its stylish special effects, they say, the gripping story. but that's not all. there were a couple more surprises. could you guess? the answers on the other side of the break. i'm the messenger, by the way. what's your name? joanne. with the hundreds that i save with progressive on my car insurance, this tree is on me. no way. way. this tree is on me. really?! yes. aah! let me just trim it up a little bit for you. [ buzzing ] thank you. saving's greetings. you guys are gonna get this tree right here? are you sure that's the one? i'll tie it to the roof for you. make savings a new holiday tradition. ♪

but i'm still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels speeds relief to your worst cold symptoms plus has a decongestant for your stuffy nose. thanks. that's the cold truth!

okay, you've been thinking, marinating over the commercial break. talking movies. there is this list of the 25 films chosen today to be preserved in the national film institute. two more to add to this list. did you guess this one. perfect time of year "a christmas story," a classic. and for this next one, here's the hint. >> are you crying? >> no. >> are you crying? are you crying? there's no crying. there's no crying in baseball! >> there's no crying in baseball! of course it's "a league of their own," love that movie. these are a couple of the 25 movies to be preserved in the library of congress. check out the full list, go to loc.gov/film.

now crazy video. have you ever seen a mud slide knock a train off its tracks? no? watch this. that mud slide, right there, down a 100 foot rain-soaked cliff, this is near everett, washington, monday. the area getting hit with stormy weather for a third straight day. you see the freight cars one after another after another, some of them splitting wide open. they were carrying small packages of disinfectant and chemicals. everything is okay. officials said says no need to panic, no threat whatsoever to the environment or public health. how about that, though? and we'll be right back. i just r new light chicken pot pie soup and it's so rich and creamy... is it really 100 calories? let me put you on webcan... ...lean roasted chicken... and a creamy broth mmm i can still see you. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

starts with arthritis pain and a choice. take tylenol or take aleve, the #1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. just two aleve can keep pain away all day. back to the news.

can i still ship a gift in time for christmas? yeah, sure you can. great. where's your gift? uh... whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express by december 22nd for christmas delivery.

top of the hour, good to see you. i'm brooke baldwin. president obama not too long ago throwing this surprise news conference, two topics dominated. he answered several questions on the impending fiscal cliff, blasting republicans in the process. but he began with a debate sweeping the country right now. that's what i want to talk about here. gun control. the president says the time is now. the time is now to reassess the nation's gun control laws after the senseless slaughtering of those 20 innocent children in newtown, connecticut, in that elementary school. he wants concrete proposals, wants them quickly, in a month. vice president there, joe biden, he will be leading this interagency effort. the president says after the newtown shootings, they have an obligation to try. >> we know this is a complex issue that stirs deeply held

passions and political divides. and as i said on sunday night, there is no law or set of laws that can prevent every senseless act of violence in our society. we're going to need to work on making access to mental health care at least as easy as access to a gun. we're going to need to look more closely at a culture that all too often glorifies guns and violence. and any actions we must take many begin inside the home and inside our hearts. >> while the president is working the national stage, there are many cities across the country who are pushing gun buybacks as a way to perurge gu from the streets as many as they can and quickly. police officers offer deals to those who own guns, turn in your gun no question asked and you'll get money, a gift card, worth a couple hundred dollars and police go and destroy those guns. i want to bring in antonio

villaraigosa. good to see you back here. >> good to see you, brooke. >> let me begin with l.a. i know you're moving up the annual gun buyback from may to the day after christmas. you're offering grocery store gift cards up to 200 bucks in exchange for the guns. no questions asked. why do you think this works? >> well, we worked with a group of mothers who had lost their children. mother's day we're going to accelerate this a bit and do it a day after christmas. it works because of guns that could otherwise be stolen or used in a crime, used to hurt someone off the streets. we have collected assault weapons, grenade launchers, guns of every sort, rifles, everything you can imagine over the years. about 8,000 of them. and we're going to do it again the day after christmas. it is a way for people to get involved. people are asking me, what can i

do? obviously we can support legislation to tighten our gun laws, both at the state and federal level. but people want to do more than that. this is an opportunity for people to do something themselves. and be part of the solution. >> what about you have the other side of this whole story, i tweeted out, talking about gun buybacks and i want to read this one tweet, i got. creative suggestion, good effort. i would not be willing to sell my defense or rights for ten times the purchase price. this is from someone who tweeted me. many americans, they won't give up their weapons, not to mention, look, if someone walks in, sells one they can buy another one. how effective is it really in reducing gun crime? >> a little bit of a time. i can't tell you that we have too much gun violence in america. l.a. is safer since 1952. our homicides are down to levels since we haven't seen since 1967. and yet there were 300

approximately people who were killed as a result of gun violence last year. that's 300 too many. and particularly you mentioned, you opened up the program with the slaughtering of children. what we have seen in america continually again and again and again, columbine, virginia tech, newtown -- >> aurora. >> is a level of violence that none of us should be able to accept. >> let me throw this idea out there. there was this really interesting op-ed in "the washington post" by a writer by the name of matt miller, talks about the idea of gun buybacks, how it could help the economy. but he recounts this horrendous mass killing in the '90s in tasmania, and so as a result of that, 35 people died. as a result of that, australian politicians got together and the whole government, they purchased and destroyed 700,000 weapons that he said that was about a fifth of australia's estimated stock of firearms. he said that was like destroying 50 million guns in america today

because of the senseless crime friday morning in newtown. do you think a nationwide buyback would ever happen? >> i hope so, but that's not the only solution. i think the president said it. we got to do something about our cultural values that promote violence. we got to do -- make it as easy as he said to access mental health as it is to buy a gun. we got to toughen our gun laws, enact a federal assault weapons ban. i was the author of california's assault weapons ban. and that's great for california. but you can go buy a gun in arizona. you can buy a gun in other states where it is more -- where it is easier to do so. we have strong purchasers, people who can legally buy a gun and buy guns and assault weapons for people who can't. we can toughen up our registry to make sure that we're cutting the loopholes.

the person in virginia who killed all of those students at virginia tech was someone who was mentally ill, who was never reported. >> there are so many conversations to be had. we'll wait and see what the interagency can do with joe biden at the helm here. i know the timetable is a month. we'll see what can be done, what proposals can be on the table, mayor antonio villaraigosa in los angeles. thank you so, so much. i appreciate it. i want to talk about the scathing report out today blames systemic failures at the u.s. state department for that deadly terrorist attack at the u.s. consulate in benghazi. now the fallout. we have now learned three state department officials resigned today, all over this. four americans, including ambassador christopher stevens, killed in the attack back in september. among this report's findings, quote/unquote, grossly inadequate security. and that the dismissal of repeated requests to beef up

personnel. the panel also found a lack of transparency, responsiveness and leadership, both in libya, and in washington. and want to bring in former state department spokesman p.j. crowley to talk more about this. welcome back. i just want to begin with the three resignations we found out today. does that surprise you? >> it is a difficult report. and i'm sure no one feels worse than eric boswell, who i worked with at the state department and his two colleagues for what happened in benghazi. and obviously they have taken their share of responsibility for it. >> did it surprise you? >> it doesn't surprise me. this is something that is a shock to the state department, thankfully these things don't happen every day. this is the first time in roughly, you know, 25 years, but obviously the state department and those responsible for the security of the secretary and everyone, all the posts around the world, take this very, very

seriously. >> we know congressional hearings begin tomorrow. i want to play a little sound. this is what senator john kerry said about this. >> the report specifically calls on resources. there is a need to put about $2.5 billion a year over a number of years into efforts to strengthen our security status in various critical places. >> so what is this solution here? we were talking to our senior international correspondent who was talking again, what she saw on the ground. the whistle had been blown at benghazi, the rumblings existed that security was lackluster. why didn't anyone do anything? why did it take four lives lost? >> there are two per spectives here. first is we put these diplomats in a very, very difficult situation. libya is awash with weapons and as the report detailed, there were a number of militias, some of them working with the state

department, but they had multiple agendas and may have been working against the state department at the same time they're responsible for helping to secure this diplomatic post. you can never get the threat and risk down to zero. that said, obviously, the state department has a tradition of putting responsibility under the vienna convention on the host nation to provide the baseline of security and clearly libya was not able to do that, that came out in the report. so what the secretary put forward is that the state department has to have greater resources and improve the baseline of security, particularly in some of these diplomatic post and post conflict zones where we cannot be assured what the host nation will provide a secure environment for our diplomats to do their work. >> why weren't the resources there? if there were rumblings there was a lack of security, where would they come from? who pays for that? >> i think there are two aspects. the report obviously underscores

that there was a misreading or underestimation of the threat that these individuals were facing, a series of security incidents that the post and washington did not adequately address. at the time, the embassy or the consulate was attacked, there was just inadequate number of people on the ground to hold them off. but the state department's budget is give or take $50 billion, it is 1/12 of that of the pentagon which does also put a great deal of emphasis on force protection, making sure that our soldiers are as secure as they can be in these difficult zones. so obviously, you know, always will somebody risk there. but the state department has to add more people and do some additional construction to make the situation as secure as it can be. >> what about -- one more question for you. there was no disciplinary action taken. we mentioned the resignations coming down today, but do you

think someone very, very high up there should be held accountable and how high should the blame go? >> well, look, three individuals, one of whom i know very, very well resigned today because they share -- they feel they are partially responsible for what happened here. the real issue is what do we continue to do to make, you know, our diplomats work as safe as it can be, understanding we can't put all of our diplomats behind barriers or fortresses because then they can't do the diplomacy that ultimately serves u.s. interests. brooke, you have to remember here, 20 years ago, we were bombing libya. i'm sorry, 25 years gee. 24 years ago libya took down at this very time of year pan am 103. these diplomats were in libya helping to build a new libya that is going to be a constructive player. we won't know for about a dozen years whether their sacrifice, horrible as it is, gets the kind of return that we hope for, but

this was important work, dangerous work, and we can never completely eliminate that risk. >> no one disagrees with you there in the important work and the dangerous work must continue. thank you so much. we appreciate you coming in. more news happening on this wednesday, including this. bracing for the blizzards. as folks get ready to head out for the holidays, current forecasts show travel nightmare. plus, taking a look at robert bork's incredible place in history. and -- >> you are a dangerous man espousing dangerous nonsense. >> piers morgan, emotional over gun control. and tonight, he's getting all sides together for answers. piers joins me live. [ male announcer ] this december, remember -- you can stay in and like something... or you can get out there and actually like something.

the lexus december to remember sales event is on. this is the pursuit of perfection. with scottrader streaming quotes, any way you want. fully customize it for your trading process -- from thought to trade, on every screen. and all in real time. which makes it just like having your own trading floor, right at your fingertips. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. try our easy-to-use scottrader streaming quotes. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. than a whole box of this other stuff... and that much freshness is gonna take some getting used to... [ sniffing ] yep. it's amazing what a single scoop of gain freshness can do.

[ "the odd couple" theme playing ] humans. even when we cross our "t"s and dot our "i"s, we still run into problems -- mainly other humans. at liberty mutual insurance, we understand. that's why our auto policies come with accident forgiveness if you qualify, where your rates won't go up due to your first accident, and new car replacement, where if you total your new car, we give you the money for a new one. call... to talk to an insurance expert about

everything else that comes standard with our base auto policy. [ tires squeal ] and if you get into an accident and use one of our certified repair shops, your repairs are guaranteed for life. call... to switch, and you could save hundreds. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? [ male announcer ] when diarrhea hits, kaopectate stops it fast. powerful liquid relief speeds to the source. fast. [ male announcer ] stop the uh-oh fast with kaopectate. when first graders are slaughter slaughtered, we all want to blame something. people blame guns. others like my next guest says guns are not necessarily the problem here. people are the problem.

the immediatia media is the pr. society is the problem. david copple joins me from denver, colorado. welcome to you. we heard all kinds of arguments last couple of days from the pro gun side, just briefly your op-ed, what was your unique message? >> well, first of all, something that -- however much people want to argue about the gun issue, we ought to come together and finally address mental health, which even while the government at all levels in this country is loaded over the last 50 years, the laws and the funding for mental health treatment for people who are dangerously, violently mental ill has been decimated. and 50 years ago somebody like the guy who perpetrated the aurora theater murders would have been civilly committed and treated before he could kill so many people. so and a very large number of

the people who commit these sensational things for the purpose of getting media attention for themselves are seriously and identifiably mentally ill before hand. >> there are a lot of numbers in your piece and you look at, you know, what can account for the increase in these types of shootings. talk about the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill. my question would be then, you reference the '60s. how would locking people up today, how would that help, just tossing people in these institutions and then who pays for that? >> well, the taxpayers pay for it. we pay for the police. we pay for prisons. we pay for the medical examiner in connecticut who had to do all the autopsies on those children. and instead of paying for that, we could spend less on things like that if we spend more up front on providing treatment and for the people who are

dangerously violently identifiably mentally ill. >> i just want to read this blog, because -- i'm sure you've seen it, it is a stunning piece, written in the blue review, talking about mental illness by this distraught mother and her name is liza long, talks about her 13-year-old son, who, you know, has pulled a knife on her, threatened to kill himself and so she says, you know, antipsychotic drugs haven't worked on her son. there is no official diagnosis of mental illness, but, you know, she thinks he could be somewhere on this spectrum and the social worker says the only real option for her son would be if he's charged with a crime and just has to, you know, goes to prison. let me read you what this mother writes here. no one wants to send a 13-year-old genius who loves harry potter and his snuggle, his snuggle animal collection to jail. but our society with its stigma on mental illness and broken health care system does not provide us with other options. we're talking about this 13-year-old here. what would you, david, what would you tell this mother to do

with her son? >> i would -- well, i would say that what she wrote about and good for her for having the courage to do it, go out and do that, is similar to what a lot of people have written to me privately and in e-mails, they have a relative or someone else close in their lives who is violent and dangerous. and really worried -- and they go to the authorities now and they say there is nothing we will do until this person commits a crime and then after he commits the crime, then we'll prosecute and put him in prison. >> that's not good enough. >> of course that's not good enough. what we need to do -- studies have shown if you look at the state to state variation in homicide rates, about a third of the variation among the states is between the states that have the stronger laws for civil commitment for the violently mentally ill versus the states that have the weakest laws. so we could all across the country strengthen those laws following the stronger models of the states like wisconsin and in addition, pay what we need to in terms to provide the resources

for the treatment and care. >> so you say -- >> it is crazy we don't do that, pay for it now and we end up paying much more in so many ways later. >> okay. so there has to be a solution. you say the taxpayer would be forking over the money. i have to ask you about something else you said in your piece. other people have said that when you talk about the uptick in shootings like this, you blame the media. cable tv greatly magnifies the instant celebrity that a mass killer can achieve. i was in newtown for a couple of days. i covered this story. multiple people are there. what is another option, to ignore it, not cover it at all? >> well, i think tv does that in some cases, like when if a guy at a football game runs on the field naked, the cameras have a policy of not covering him. because they know they're doing it for publicity. and on something like this, it is not a story you can avoid. >> it is not. it is not. >> tell it -- of course not. if you look at how the cable tv, including cnn among others,

covered columbine, they made these heinous evil people into national celebrities. and how much time do you spend showing the picture of the guy who did it and how much time -- >> it is journalism. it is journalism. we tell the stories and we focus now, we talk about all these victims. i've spent several days talking about these horrible, sad, sad young victims there in newtown. but, you know -- >> look, i used to be the media critic for the rocky mountain news. so i know that journalists, when they want to cover things in a responsible way, can. for example, there is someone who say sexual assault, a victim of a sexual assault, generally you don't mention that person's name, even though that's part of the news and might be of great interest to the viewers. certainly media can voluntarily tone down how much attention they give to the -- how much the picture of the murderer is shown on television. >> absolutely. >> how often his name is mentioned. you can cover the story, and you can pay more attention to the good people like the heroic

teachers who tried to save their kids to the victims and try to minimize how much fame the killers get because we absolutely know from the studies of them that this fame that they get by doing these awful crimes is one of their primary motivations. >> i appreciate your opinion and your perspective. people come to us for facts, for the stories and we hope that we present them in a fair manner, fair manner here at cnn. i appreciate you very much for coming on and talking to me about it. we do have to talk washington. still no deal, no dice here on that looming fiscal cliff. house speaker john boehner, president obama, both clear. one very succinct message from one of the men today, basically saying, take my deal. what they said today next. [ male announcer ] with a select terrain dial that adjusts the jeep grand cherokee's performance for specific weather and road conditions... ♪ ...even heavy snowstorms...

won't keep you from getting to work. our apologies. ♪

this is just -- this is just in out of florida, you see this is a plane, this yellow thing is a plane on a beach, we're told this is lido beach, if you know lido beach, the tampa bay area. the pilot rescued, thankfully. see the waves washing ashore. so the plane right there sort of in the sand, crews are on the scene right now. plane, there is a better picture for you so you can see, a smaller sort of type plane, lido beach. we'll try to get more answers for you here on cnn.

let's talk about that fiscal cliff. less than two weeks away, still no deal to avert the series of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts that will affect every one of us come the first of the year. earlier today, the president standing by his most recent offer. >> at some point there has got to be i think a recognition on the part of my republican friends that, you know, take the deal. you know, they will be able to claim that they have worked with me over the last two years to reduce the deficit more than any other deficit reduction package. that we will have stabilized for ten years. that is a significant achievement for them. they should be proud of it. but they keep on finding ways to say no as opposed to finding ways to say yes. i don't know how much of that just has to do with, you know,

it is very hard for them to say yes to me. >> that was the president earlier today, the daily briefing. then this moment, very quick moment, this is house speaker john boehner's response. >> good afternoon, everyone. the republicans continue to work toward avoiding the fiscal cliff. the president's offer of $1.3 trillion in revenues and $850 billion in spending reductions fails to meet the test that the president promised the american people a balanced approach. and i hope the president will get serious soon about providing and working with us on a balanced approach. tomorrow the house will pass legislation to make permanent tax relief for nearly every american. 99.81% of the american people. then the president will have a decision to make, he can call on

the senate democrats to pass that bill, or he can be responsible for the largest tax increase in american history. >> wolf blitzer, let me bring you in, in washington. we were here live and took the boehner news conference, it was all of 56 seconds, i think the quickest news conference ever on capitol hill. but clearly the message was there, according to boehner, the president's offer is not balanced. what do you make of all of this back and forth, back and forth, 13 days to go. >> as far as extending the bush tax cuts for almost everyone, almost everyone, you know, there are $600,000 apart. the president wants to extend the tax cuts for everyone earning under $400,000 a year. that's his latest proposal. >> he threw out the number 700,000 today at that news conference. >> throwing out a bunch of numbers. but his last proposal was 400,000. originally remember it was -- he ran on the $250,000 for couples

or $200,000 for individuals. but now he's gone up to $400,000. boehner wants it for a million. no one earning under a million dollars a year should get a tax increase. let the bush tax rates stay in effect for everyone earning under a million dollars. that's more than 99that, that's 99.5% of the earners, of the workers out there, if you will. the they're still apart on that. i don't think it is unbridgeable. i've been in washington for a while. i think if you get that close to working on a short term plan between these two sides, you can come up with a number that they both should be able to appreciate and at the same time not force millions and millions of people who earn under, whether $400,000, $700,000 or a million dollars a year, they're not going to get a tax hike, especially everyone's concern about the 98% under $250,000, you don't want their taxes to go up starting january 1st.

you want that continuity, that assurance that the tax rates are going to stay the same. on that plan b, i don't think that it is unbridgeable, maybe the house will pass what boehner wants tomorrow, the democrats will vote against it. won't go anywhere in the senate. white house has already said the president would veto it. but they should be able to come up with something. and you know what was really impressive, to you and to me, brooke, we were both there in newtown, the president made the point and i took notes as he was saying it, he said, you know, especially at a time like this, in the past week, we have seen what is going on. let's keep automatll of this in perspective, work out a deal with christmas and new year's so people can get on with their lives and should be relatively, you know, doable if you will, not that hard. >> perspective. perspective is the president points out. we'll see what happens coming up here 13 days. wolf blitzer, thank you. we'll look for you at top of the hour on "the situation room." thank you, sir. for me, coming up, the story of

this 5-year-old, 5-year-old dodging bullets, escaping a shooter who had no specific target. i'm not talking about friday morning. i'm talking about an event that happened more than ten years ago. that child survived, has grown up. and he has some advice for the families in newtown. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels speeds relief to your worst cold symptoms plus has a decongestant for your stuffy nose. thanks. that's the cold truth! he opened up jake's very private world. at first, jake's family thought they saved ziggy, but his connection with jake has been a lifesaver. for a love this strong, his family only feeds him iams. compared to other leading brands, it has 50% more animal protein... ...to help keep ziggy's body as strong as a love that reaches further than anyone's words. iams. keep love strong.

it's lots of things. all waking up. connecting to the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ it's going to be amazing. and exciting. and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away. we're going to wake the world up. and watch, with eyes wide, as it gets to work. cisco. tomorrow starts here.

more funerals today where all eyes are focused on a child size casket. people, families, loved ones paying tribute to these three students killed in that massacre friday morning at sandy hook elementary school paying tribute to the little ones as well as one of their favorite teachers, 27-year-old vicki soto. a police honor guard saluted the casket of this young teacher who died shielding her students. she was a hero from that gunfire. also, caroline previdi, she was 6 years old. a facebook page dedicated to her has more than 5400 likes since her death. daniel barden, 7 years old, he

was a drummer in a band he formed with his brother and his sister. also today, 6-year-old charlotte bacon was described as a bundle of energy under her bright red curls. perhaps one of the most tragic aspects to the killings in connecticut, not first time. this is not the first time little children have seen bullets fly and escaped murder themselves. let me take you back to 1999. a white supremacist randomly opened fire at a jewish community center in los angeles. remember this? five people were hit including three children who were just 5 and 6 years old. senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen spoke with two of them. >> i saw some of the bullets going past the hall. >> heard yelling, put your hands up, don't shoot, we heard lots of scary stuff. >> reporter: these innocent eyes have witnessed unspeakable horrors. >> everybody was crying. >> reporter: images that could haunt them forever. >> she walked past the body. saw the principal, saw the

blood. >> reporter: physically they escaped, but how will these young survivors do mentally? >> very serious situation at the north valley jewish community sender are. >> reporter: ben and josh know what it is like to face the nightmare. 13 years ago, the boys were at summer camp in los angeles when a gunman stormed in and shot them. ben was 5. what do you remember happening around you? >> screaming, tons of screaming. >> reporter: josh was 6. >> he came in, and he shot all the way around and the next thing i remember i was just getting up and running as fast as i could that way. >> reporter: the boys survived, but were never the same emotionally. >> i didn't live a normal childhood. in no means did i have a normal childhood. >> reporter: the shooter, buford furrow, had robbed them of their security. when you were dropped off at school, you wondered am i safe? >> yes. >> reporter: for how long? >> probably through middle school. >> if we heard helicopters,

sirens, loud noises, anything that would startle me, the house was on lockdown. >> reporter: so you would go around and lock the doors. >>locked every door, locked every window. >> reporter: why did you lock every door and window? >> the closest i could feel to safe. >> reporter: they're among the few who experienced what the connecticut children have experienced. >> the pictures of the kids being taken out and standing in this line, i can accidentally mistake the pictures from when i got shot. >> i think they're going to feel afraid of the dark, afraid of loud noises. >> reporter: what advice would you give to the parents in connecticut? >> listen to your kids. you know, they're a lot smarter than we take them for. and so you really have to just listen to them and be understanding to them and know that there will be times when they really do want to talk about it and there will be times when they don't. and if they don't want to talk about it, don't push them. >> how about that advice?

senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen. i have been hoping that, you know, i think back to my own first grade, i don't really remember much. i've been hoping these kids who survived wouldn't either. but according to josh and ben, they still struggle today. >> they still struggle today. they do. they said they have their moments. so when it came time last year, the year before, to decide where to go to college, they stayed local. they said when we have a moment, we want to be five minutes from home. we don't want to be a plane ride away from home. it still affects them. >> listen to your parents, what advice do they have to parents in newtown. >> they say, listen to your child. your child may feel like talking, may not feel like talking. i asked ben, what was most helpful thing your parents did? he said my parents reminded me, in addition to this being terrible, it made me stronger. if i could get through this, is would the zrostrong person. his personal mantra has become ben cadish can do anything. he remembers that all the time. >> incredible.

thank you for getting their story, sharing their stories. 13 years later, appreciate it. now this. i know why sales of these weapons have been soaring in the last few days. it is down to idiots like you. mr. pratt, thank you for joining me. when we come back -- >> thank you for your high level argument, mr. morgan. it is very good. >> you wouldn't understand the meaning of the phrase high level argument. >> piers morgan, he's passionate about gun control. and tonight he's holding a town hall live on cnn. what voices will we hear? what should we expect? here he is, piers standing by. we'll talk about that next. hey, look! a shooting star!

make a wish! i wish we could lie here forever. i wish this test drive was over, so we could head back to the dealership. [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. test drive! but we still need your signature. volkswagen sign then drive is back. and it's never been easier to get a jetta. that's the power of german engineering. get $0 down, $0 due at signing, $0 deposit, and $0 first month's payment on any new volkswagen. visit vwdealer.com today.

when it comes to cnn's piers morgan, there is absolutely no mystery about his view on guns. he supports tougher gun control laws. want you to watch his eexchange between piers and larry pratt, owner of gun owners of america. watch this. >> i know why sales of these weapons have been soaring in the last few days. it is down to idiots like you. mr. pratt, thank you for joining me. when we come back -- >> thank you for your high level argument. it was very good. >> you wouldn't understand the phrase high level argument. you are a dangerous man espousing dangerous nonsense and -- >> disarmament is dangerous.

ask neville chamberlain, your role model. >> i know about role models. you're not one of them. >> piers morgan, piers morgan. you're hosting this town hall live tonight. that was quite an exchange you had. first of all, i'm curious, have you heard from him since that interview, a. and, b, why do you feel so strongly about this particular issue? >> well, i've been on air for nearly two years at cnn here in america. and i come from a country where we had an outrage like sandy hook in 1996 in dunblane, in scotland. a madman went into a school, killed 16 5-year-old children. there was such a unanimity of outrage from left to right, politicians, from all kinds of people, the public rose as one with the politicians and said enough. and there was a complete national handgun ban. and there have been no attacks involving guns on schools in britain since. the same thing happened around the same time in australia.

they had 35 people killed in tasmania. that is the same thing that happened. they brought in stringent bans on assault weapons and they had no massacres since either. i've been here -- there have been four outrages of similar magnitudes of those or worse since i've been here, and nothing ever gets done. nobody seems to care. the only thing that happens is that gun sales go up because the gun lobby, the gun rights people, the nra, get out there, very fast, and say, if everybody had been armed in this school, or this movie theater, or this hospital or wherever it may be, then they would have killed the shooter. so the number of guns in a country that already has 300 million guns, one for every one in the country, just increases all the time. and that means when you get people who are deranged, like this dikiller in sandy hook, living in a house with six firearms including assault weapons, they can get their hands on them with impunity and it has got to stop. >> and then on top of that,

there are people out there, including one of your guest, who says let's arm our teachers. roll the video. >> seems so obvious that since we have concealed carry laws, and all of our country now, people can get a concealed firearm, and yet we have laws that say not in schools, and so in the very places that have been sought out by monsters such as the murderer of these adults and children, we're saying, no, we don't want you to be able to defend yourself. it is better that you just sit there and wait to be killed. we find that morally incomprehensib incomprehensible. >> i heard you laugh before we tossed to the sound bite so i can only guess what your reaction would be to that suggestion. is this something that will be brought up tonight? tell me about the town hall. i know it will be feisty. it will be fiery. must see hour tv here on cnn. who are you talking to? >> well, we're going to have cory booker, the mayor of new

york, tom ridge, a lot of experience in this area, deepak chop chopra, i don't want it to be just one long shouting match with the gun rights people. i have no problem at all with americans that want to defend themselves at home with a handgun or a pistol and just have it there in case they're attacked. i get that is what an average american believes is their fundamental right under the second amendment. nor do i have any problem with people who want to hunt or shoot or other sporting pursuits with a gun when regulated. this is my problem. so many of the weapons are unregulated. so many gun trades are done now where nobody has any clue who getting their hands on them. we saw the nfl player involved in the shooting. he had eight weapons. this woman, the mother of the killer, at sandy hook, had six weapons. why do you need this army of weapons? my real problem, brooke, is this. not about getting all the guns. it is about the assault rifles.

people don't seem to have a clue what an ar-15 can do. it it was used in sandy hook, the shooting in the oregon mall shooting, young men got their hands on the assault rifles. they're the nearest thing to an m-16 machine gun. these are military weapons. i heard christiane amanpour saying earlier, thshe sees thes on the battlefields, why should they be in the u.s., walked into our malls, our movie theaters, elementary schools? i hear you. wasn't to a i want to ask you one more thing. people say blame the media. the reason why these mass murders continue is because the media glorifies these shooters. i have my own thoughts. what are yours? >> i just couldn't agree less. because the point is you have to highlight what happens here and you have to learn from it. you have to learn how this disturbed young man living in

this home, was he obsessed with video games, was it due to a new obsession with guns because his mother took him to a firing range, was it because his mother was apparently about to commit him to a psychiatric treatment? who knows what it was? was it his mental health? here is the thing. if he didn't have the guns, none of those children would have been shot. and so you have to deal with the primary problem that america faces, which is guns. guns, guns, guns. and it is nothing to do with the second amendment right to defend yourself, and everything to do with military style weapons that can slaughter -- these things can fire 100 bullets in a minute. they are machine guns designed for mass killing. and you can buy them -- i can't buy six packets of sudafed in a pharmacy in america, but i can buy an ar-15 machine gun. it is ridiculous. >> want everyone to watch, live special piers morgan, town hall,

cnn, 9:00 eastern. be there. piers, thank you. >> thanks, brooke. [ male announcer ] this december, remember -- what starts with adding a friend... ♪ ...could end with adding a close friend. the lexus december to remember sales event is on. this is the pursuit of perfection. ♪ ooh baby, can i do for you today? ♪ [ female announcer ] need help keeping your digestive balance? align can help. only align has bifantis, a patented probiotic that naturally helps maintain your digestive balance. try align to help retain a balanced digestive system. try the #1 gastroenterologist recommended probiotic. align. but they haven't experienced

extra strength bayer advanced aspirin. in fact, in a recent survey, 95% of people who tried it agreed that it relieved their headache fast. visit fastreliefchallenge.com today for a special trial offer.

conservative jurist robert bork has died. and wounds have not healed from his tumultuous senate. democrats portray him as a right-wing zealot and he maintains that he was part of a smear campaign. this is a case involving privacy rights in the bedroom. >> if they had evidence that a crime was being committed -- >> wire tapping. >> you mean to think that america is going to authorize a wire tap to find out if a couple is using contraceptives? >> they could. >> unbelievable. >> the issues that bork was defeated on, is there a right to

privacy in the constitution? those are the issues that are still at the heart of what the supreme court fights about. the supreme court is going to address the issue of same-sex marriage come march. that was the kind of issue that bork spoke out on. this was a fight for the ages and extremely significant. >> robert bork had suffered from heart disease. he was 85 years old. as many of you getting ready to get out and about for the holidays, the forecast, not great. in fact, between rain and blizzards, we could be in for a big travel mess. chad myers has the forecast next. 's it's like being nestled in an eight-way, adjustable, heated and ventilated seat surrounded by a 500-watt sound system while floating on a suspension made of billowy clouds. or you could just hand them your keys. ♪

♪ stop! stop! stop! come back here! humans -- we are beautifully imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. that's why liberty mutual insurance has your back with great ideas like our optional better car replacement. if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. call... and ask one of our insurance experts about it today. hello?! we believe our customers do their best out there in the world, and we do everything we can to be there for them when they need us. [car alarm blaring] call now and also ask about our 24/7 support and service. call... and lock in your rate

for 12 months today. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

. let's talk weather. a quick little reminder about a winter storm barrelling through the plain states towards the midwest. we're talking bliz zard blizzard conditions up to des moines, lincoln, madison, green bay all could get hit with possible snow tomorrow. also in chicago. chad myers warns that the storm is potentially deadly. think really, really carefully

before driving in some of those affected areas. be right back. just $12.99. come into red lobster and sea food differently. and introducing 7 lunch choices for just $7.99.

but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. if you're still having difficulty breathing, ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. get your first full prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com.